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Thursday, August 16, 2007

Handful

Posted
on Thu, Aug 16, 2007 at 4:00 AM

HandfulLabel: ShadoksLength: LPMedia: CDFormat: AlbumWorkNameSort: Handful
The ass-grabbing cover art and a band name like 'Bettyâ?� would lead one to expect Handful to be some sort of long-lost funk masterpiece. In truth, this latest find from the treasure-hunting folks at Shadoks isn't funky and it's far from a masterpiece. While the joy of reissuing an album that enjoyed a 200-copy original run may be immensely satisfying to Shadoks, the label's typically high psych-obscurity standards seem to have been blinded by collectors who automatically assume rare = excellent. In the case of the moribund and painfully subpar blues-boogie-rock of Betty, it's definitely not the case. Originally released in 1971 in an appropriately small pressing, it's not shocking that Handful didn't find much of an audience; it's neither far-out enough to be interesting nor exciting enough to be memorable. As the band chugs through rote numbers like 'High Rollin' on the Freeway,â?� 'Light's Gonna Shine,â?� 'Boogie With Youâ?� and other utterly uninspired and bland takes on biker-rock, it's easy to imagine a couple hundred record geeks wondering just what the fuck they shelled out all that money for on eBay.